HarperCollins Anti-Library Ways

[jumpuphigh]

So, has everybody heard about HarperCollins gouging libraries for ebooks?

Library Journal:

In the first significant revision to lending terms for ebook circulation, HarperCollins has announced that new titles licensed from library ebook vendors will be able to circulate only 26 times before the license expires.

Smart Bitches blog:

In other words, the publisher sets a limit to the number of times a digital book can be lent, then when that limit is reached, that library must purchase another copy.

But wait! There’s more! That mysterious “publishers” referred to in the OverDrive email also says they want access to patron information.
[emphasis mine]

Cory Doctorow @ BoingBoing:

I've talked to a lot of librarians about why they buy DRM books for their collections, and they generally emphasize that buying ebooks with DRM works pretty well, generates few complaints, and gets the books their patrons want on the devices their patrons use. And it's absolutely true: on the whole, DRM ebooks, like DRM movies and DRM games work pretty well.

But they fail really badly. No matter how crappy a library's relationship with a print publisher might be, the publisher couldn't force them to destroy the books in their collections after 26 checkouts. DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day.

Twitter:

Hashtag #hcod
HarperCollins tweet regarding the mess:  We're reading your posts-and listening to our authors. If you want to share longer thoughts with us, email library.ebook@harpercollins.com

Feel free to post additional links in the comments.

ETA: Courtney Milan, author, "On Eating Your Seed Corn":

Publishers, if you make it impossible for young people–those in the “under 25″ category–to support a good reading habit on their own dime, these people are not going to start magically spending money on books when they start making a decent income. No; at that point, they’ll already have started spending their time haunting hulu instead, where they can actually get free entertainment. And when they start making money, they’ll be buying iTunes streams of those shows they watched for free.

Comments

[elf]

Wow, that's... impressive asshattery. I suppose that was the expected next step, though. (And they're surprised at the rise in pirating?)

Harper Collins is also the publisher with a morals clause; they want the right to cancel publication and demand repayment of the advance if "Author’s conduct evidences a lack of due regard for public conventions and morals, or Author commits a crime or any other act that will tend to bring Author into serious contempt, and such behavior would materially damage the Work’s reputation or sales".

[jumpuphigh]

I bet a number of authors are reading their contracts tonight wondering if this move by HarperCollins is one that they can end the contract over. Cause I'll tell you, I won't ever buy a HC book again and I'm being pretty vocal about that on Twitter and have been retweeted enough that my tweet to HC stayed on the first page for the hashtag for quite a while and 4 of my tweets are still on the search page for @HarperCollins.

[ein_myria]

Someone on twitter posted a link to a resource guide. Looks like it has a few links to some rather lengthy posts on the issue.

[jumpuphigh]

Awesome. Thank you. I hadn't seen that post.

[amalthia]

I still can't believe how clueless some publishers are do they honestly think libraries can afford to keep rebuying ebooks? And if the books aren't there do they honestly think it'll take the patrons long to figure out they can download over 2000 ebooks in epub format at various sites via torrents? It's much more efficient than browsing a library catalog or a bookstore catalog for that matter. I don't know why they keep shooting themselves in the feet and trying to prevent people with limited resources from reading. I read hundreds of books at the library growing up and once I had an income of my own I bought books from authors I discovered at the library! News like this raises my blood pressure. I can't help but think that the publishers hate their customers and have no clue how readers become readers or realize that not everyone has money at all stages of their life.

[jumpuphigh]

Earlier today, I was ticked off. Now, I am just amused and wonder exactly how long it is going to take HarperCollins to run its business into the ground. It's like watching a train wreck in slow-mo. There are the direct customers lost, customers like me who are boycotting them now, and the indirect customers they will lose, ones who would have purchased after discovering an author in the library. Not to mention all the librarians who will be boycotting them. I wouldn't be surprised if this decision impacts librarians buying their pbooks as well.

[amalthia]

Well I guess the good news is that the publishers that don't have so many stringent requirements may get a leg up on the bigger publishers if they promote their ebooks to the libraries. :)

[jumpuphigh]

I am thinking that the next thing for me to do is to go onto my library site and make a ton of requests for books from non-evil publishers. My library is pretty good about buying requests when it can.

[nashira]

...What the hell? My library has books it probably had when my mother was born, for gods sake. If they aren't going to buy new hard copies when x amount of people have read it, why the hell would they buy new ebooks after x amount of uses? [facepalm]